Bloom Energy Fuel Cell and Bloom Box Buzz Fuel Cell Technology

Technology by Pradeep Kolla
Bloom Energy Fuel Cell and Bloom Box Buzz Create Dreams of Future Free from Electrical Grid

February 27th, 2010

Bloom Energy Fuel Cell and Bloom Box Buzz Create Dreams of Future Free from Electrical Grid. Sunnydale startup Bloom Energy recently revealed their fuel cell technology which is contained in their $800,000 energy servers dubbed “Bloom Box.” Several big name companies such as Wal-Mart, Google, Cox Communications, and eBay have all come forward admitting that they have tested the company’s product with good results.

An episode of “60 Minutes” which aired last Sunday introduced Bloom Energy’s fuel cell technology to the lay man, and since then there has been a big hype that has created a bunch of things from an IPO and stock price buzz to dreams of a world without an energy grid.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, there are a couple of things to note. First, there is no Bloom Energy IPO on the horizon. For reasons why an IPO wouldn’t make sense at this point, click here. Those who argue that John Doerr, the venture capitalist backing the endeavor compared the Bloom Box to the Google IPO should click here to see what he really meant by that statement.

Third, while the Bloom Box will definitely cut back on our need for an electrical grid – it will be many, many years before the average household will be able to have one of these devices. Currently, the energy servers are about the size of a parking space and are only affordable by a large corporation with huge economies of scale. The hope is to create a smaller unit capable of powering a home. The company also hopes to harness solar energy or other alternative energy sources for a consumer based model.

The fuel cell technology revealed by Bloom Energy is simply incredible. The company has been tweaking this technology for the past eight years under the radar and very secretly.

CEO K.R. Sridhar recently spoke of the Bloom Energy fuel cell technology in an interview with Greentech Media, saying: “It mixes with water, which is a byproduct of our exhaust. Water and methane goes into the system and within the system the methane and the water react,and you get what is called a syngas right on the surface of our fuel cell and oxygen comes from the air side of the fuel cell and mixes with CO of the syngas to form carbon dioxide and oxygen comes across the membrane again from the air side, mixes with the H2 in the syngas to form water, and both of those reactions are accompanied by electrons flowing on the outside and that’s the basic reaction.”

The video of the interview where that quote was taken can be found here.

Even though the Bloom Box fuel cell energy servers come with a hefty price tag, the company contends that a user of the box could possibly receive payback in 3-5 years of purchase. Of course, payoff will be faster the more energy a company uses. For instance, Google’s data centers eat up power like mad. Using the Bloom Box could save them a considerable amount of money.

The fuel cell technology developed by the Sunnydale startup is exciting. Hopefully, it will change our world for the better.

Source:

CNet.com

YouTube video